So it is just about the end of another year. And what a year it was, wasn’t it? Mother Nature certainly gave us a one-two punch in the catastrophe department, what with devastating earthquakes, debilitating rain storms and freak blizzards followed by unseasonably mild temperatures. It’s no wonder everyone is giving all this doomsday chatter a lot more credence than it probably should get. I mean, really, the end of days was predicted to take place on a very specific date and at a very specific time. People scattered like Chicken Little, spent their life savings and left their families because they were so convinced. Even the skeptics chuckled with a touch of doubt. Admit it, on May 21st at exactly 6:15pm (EST) you, too, closed your eyes, held your breath and stuck your fingers in your ears didn’t you? And at exactly 6:16pm you opened one eye and scanned the room only to discover people were staring at you. Oh yes, I bet you sure did that. Well, okay. Maybe it was just me.

But as we enter into 2012 in a few weeks, all this apocalyptic talk is making me apoplectic. You see, it will be the last year until 2101 when all the numbers align on one date: 12/12/12. In fact some scholars posit that because 12/21/12 is the end of the Mayan calendar, that civilization as we know it will cease to exist on that very day, and all I keep thinking is, darnit! I haven’t finished my bucket list! I mean, I have done some pretty cool stuff, like I jumped out of a plane at 13,500 feet (see video or read blog);

That's me in the glow-in-the-dark jumpsuit.

Flying through the Continental Divide

I’ve zip-lined through clouds, and I’ve even climbed to the top of a pyramid. But I haven’t driven a stick shift; travelled to Santorini, the Galapagos, nor Chilean wine country. I want to be an extra in a movie, have a dress designed especially for me, play a percussion instrument, and learn Portuguese. And now, thanks to those pesky Mayans, I may only have 365 days within which to accomplish all of these things. Well, I gotta go. I’ve got a lot of work to do and trips to plan.